1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general relates to drinking vessels (i.e., glasses) and, more particularly, to devices that aerate a beverage prior to its consumption and which may also cool the beverage.
It is important to aerate a beverage for many reasons. In particular, wines benefit from aeration prior to an analysis of their qualities. This is discussed in greater detail below. Other beverages, whether served at room temperature, cooled, or heated may similarly benefit from aeration.
It is also desirable to cool a hot beverage prior to its consumption. Those who have burnt their lips on tea or coffee that was too hot are well aware of this need. Other than putting something cold in a hot beverage to cool it, the only other solution is to wait.
The comparison of wines is an important determination to wine producers. Accordingly, wine tasters, that is people with an especially acute awareness of wine qualities, judge the attributes of many different wines. Reports in magazines, articles in various publications, and even more important, the awarding of ribbons and ranking of wines is influential in determining the sales and price of various vintage wines as well as the renown of the wine producers.
It is also important to the wine tasters themselves to be optimally able to accurately determine the subtle differences that occur between the various wines if their opinion is to be well regarded. These subtle differences include complexities and flaws that the average person is unaware of.
Currently, wine tasters use a glass to swirl the wine and sample its aroma. A sip is followed by sucking air into the mouth through pursed lips in what is commonly known as a “reverse whistle”. The mixing of the wine with air is also sometimes referred to as “volatizing the esters”, which is a more technical term of the process.
The reverse whistle aerates the wine and it is the infusion of air that helps to reveal the wine's various complexities and also its flaws, especially the more subtle ones.
However, after thus having sampled a few different wines, the ability to differentiate naturally diminishes. Wine tasters currently cleanse the palette by either sipping water or by consuming crackers or bread between the various samplings. The more wine that is consumed the more difficult cleansing of the palette becomes. Therefore, it is clearly desirable to limit the quantity of wine that is required to be consumed so that cleansing of the palette is easier and more effective.
While it is not generally regarded as an issue, wine does include alcohol and it is conceivable also that it is desirable to reduce the quantity of alcohol (i.e., wine) that is consumed so as to ensure that the perception of the wine taster is not substantially affected by a potential increase in the blood alcohol content level.
However, aside from the quantity that is consumed there is another problem inherent in the above approach. Before aeration can occur the wine taster first must take a sip. Then the reverse whistle procedure is used to aerate the wine, as was described hereinabove.
The problem is that the reverse whistle is no longer able to aerate a pure, undistorted and undiluted sample of the wine. This is because the wine has already mixed with the saliva in the wine taster's mouth.
The saliva affects the acidity (i.e., the pH) of the wine and accordingly, the character of the wine itself is altered before it is ever critiqued. The wine taster is discerning not the essence of the pure, original wine, but to some extent, how that particular wine reacts with the chemistry of his own saliva. This can vary from taster to taster, only increasing the subjectivity of any test result.
When the taster is looking for the most subtle of differences for a great many wine attributes, this becomes a significant obstacle. The wine is also diluted to some extent by the saliva prior to aeration and subsequent analysis. Analyzing an aerated but diluted wine sample is certainly not an optimum condition, yet this is all that the industry has had to rely upon thus far.
It is desirable to provide a device and method for tasting wines that is easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture and sell. This would permit amateur wine tasters to practice their art and improve their own ability to discern the various wines apart from each other.
A problem related to wine tasting is that sediments tend to accumulate at the bottom of a glass of wine. This concentration of sedimentation is to be avoided during tasting of the wine.
There is a further need also and that is for aesthetics. Wine tasting is regarded much as an art form, and those who scrutinize wines regard themselves as experts in the field, artists skilled in the art of discerning subtle nuances of taste, hue, complexion, aftertaste, etc. Any device relied upon must be aesthetically appealing to the wine taster, as well as functional.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for an aerating glass and method that infuses or mixes air with a beverage before intake into the mouth. It is also desirable to be able to cool a hot beverage prior to intake.
Clearly, an apparatus and method that provides an aerated sample of a beverage would be useful and desirable.
2. Description of Prior Art
Glasses with a straw attached are generally, known. While the structural appearance of the previously described device, at first appearance, may have similarities with the present invention, it differs in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior known device.